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Back in 2008, I began trying to start my own business, one which would eventually evolve into the Steampunk Café that opened to the public this most recent June 2nd. First, my partners and I went to a bank and asked for 150,000 dollars. This didn't work, so we tried for free grants. There weren't any. We cried to Uncle Sam,"Gimme some money!" and he said, " #%^* off!"
How can a business get off the ground if banks won't give huge, indiscriminate loans to any schmuck off the street, and the US government isn't any better? We needed expert help, so we hired unsecured loan brokers. Get 75,000, no effort involved. They promised the world and Produced nothing. No wonder we're in a recession. Where's all the money at?
We buckled down and wrote a business plan. Not good enough. We wrote another, and another. Not good enough. We hired a business plan writer. Didn't get any loans. Four years had passed taking business classes and writing business plans.. During those four years, we'd been buying the cafe a little bit at a time, and well, eventually, we had all the money we needed to at least get the doors open.
We just paid our first month's bills with enough left to pay what could've been a monthly loan payment, though we didn't take salaries. That was without anybody's help. I wonder if they wonder how well we could be doing had they given us a chance. Anyway, good luck trying to get that miracle funding, but odds are, you'll end up doing all the funding yourself. Even a five thousand dollar line of credit was asking too much in our case, and wealthy investors weren't banging down our door. Still, nothing drives an ego to success like a bunch of naysayers, and the same can apply to you. If you really want to start your own business, you'll have to save, and save, and save, and maybe years later, do it all yourself. Nobody else gives a damn.
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Making limitless possibilities much more limited.
